Description

Pitch 1: This is a great 5.8 warmup or option for gumbier climbers that you drag over to the N Face. It features a nice tips splitter on a slab. Many folks climb only the first pitch and belay off a dying tree with webbing around it. This probably needs bolts (heaven forbid). Those hollow aluminum rap rings are for single use only and should not be part of a permanent, heavily used belay station. Follow this link to learn more: climbaz.com/service/rapring.ht... If you are going to belay off this tree, use your own gear and the last person should donate a couple biners and rap.

Pitch 2: It looks fantastic from the ground, and is one of the few true splitters at the Glass...at least that's how it looks. Closer inspection reveals a constricting crack with a lip on it that is awkward and painful to jam with moss and mud in the back of it. Yeehaw! If doing the 2nd pitch, traverse right after the tree (a little spicey) then up the first bulge to belay at a sloping stance with good gear. The crux is liebacking or jamming over a bulge about 20' above the belay. Continue to rap from two bolts about 70' above the belay. The entire route is very well protected. Take two ropes to rap.

Location

On the North Face of Looking Glass. This is located on the face of the pillar between Cornflake Crack and the Womb. Start about 10 feet left of a large tree that has grown into the wall.

Protection

P1: Small nuts or TCU's, then standard rack P2: Extra .5 and .75 camalots, hand sized pieces for the belay

The splitter on pitch 2 is really good, although everything Mike said is true. It's pretty much 10a, with the exception of the boulder problem over the roof. The final twenty feet to the bolts are like ringlocks with training wheels, lots of constrictions and pods that just fit your hands perfectly. Take lots of .75 camalots on this. I used three and could have placed one more if I had it.

Also, a good practice for rapping off the ledge where Safari Jive and Cornfake Crack's second pitch end: have the first person just do a single rope rap to the ground, and tie your other line at the bottom. The second person then pulls it up and does the standard double rope rappel. This eliminates the need to haul two ropes up these classic lines.

The tree has died (wooly adelgid) and the rap anchor has been changed. There are now 2 bomber stainless cabled hexes for the anchor (two of the larger sizes) - along with two large 10mm stainless (316) quick-links as rings. They are invisibe from below but are obvious when you get there, and are located in the crack directly above the maple/dead hemlock - about 15' above where the standard route moves right. The anchor can easily be backed up with a #3 or #4 camelot, or a variety of other stuff.

Also, for those who don't know; if you are willing to swing over (same as with the older anchor tree below), it makes a good intermediate rap station for the standard descent with a 60 meter rope.